Floor tool roller



Oct. 10, 1939. D. B. REPLOGLE 2,175,646

FLOOR TOOL ROLLER Original Filed Oct. 14, 1936 /6 60 @4. 8 47 27 26 28 2Z a 3% 29 gz V9 A Y 42 4a f'g V5 gwue/rvhor/ fi Pe vlogie 46 I WMPatented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES FLOOR TOOL ROLLER Daniel BensonReplogle, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to The Ohio Citizens Trust Company,Toledo,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio, as trustee Application October 14, 1936,Serial No. 105,600

, Renewed August 7, 1939 Claims.

The invention relates to floor tool rollers and supports therefor andmore particularly to improvements in attachment casters of the generaltype disclosed in my Patent No. 1,541,280 dated 5 June 9, 1925. Certainfeatures of the invention are of general application while others aremore particularly related to the suction cleaner art.

One of the objects of the invention is to simplify and improve themounting of the supporting rollers at the ends of a floor tool or thelike.

Another object is to provide an improved end closure for a floor tool.

A further object of the invention is to improve the end roller itself,and the bearings thereof.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter from the furtherdetailed description of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood 20 by reference to theaccompanying drawing in which are set forth a specific embodiment of theinventive thought for the purpose of illustration rather than by way oflimitation.

In the drawing:

25 Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a floor tool of asuction cleaner equipped with the improved supporting rollers, the floortool being shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

30 Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. I

Fig. 5 is an axialsection through the tire of the supporting end roller.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the two- 35 part bearing of thesupporting roller, made of anti-friction material.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the end closure plates.

Fig. 8 isan axial sectional view showing the 40 supporting rollerprovided with a thimble which holds the two parts of the roller bearingin assembled position.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the metal thimble.

For convenience the invention will be described 45 by reference to afloor tool such as is disclosed in Replogle and Queen Patent No.1,994,872 dated March 19, 1935, particularly Fig. 10 thereof, but itwill be understood that the invention is by no means limited in itsapplication for a floor 50 tool of this character.

As shown thefloor tool is in two parts, a lower [portion Ill and anupper portion H, each of which includes a suction nozzle. The portion I0is provided with a large mouth i2 having front and 66 rear lips l3 overwhich are fitted fiber stroker members l4 forming between them endopenings i5 through which air may be drawn into the interior ofthe tool.The other portion Ii is provided with a reduced mouth l6 through whichair may be drawn into the interior when the tool 5 is reversed asdescribed in the aforesaid patent.

It will be noted that only half of the tool is shown, the other halfbeing similar to the portion which is shown and the tool being providedwith a suction handle, not shown, such as is dis- I closed in theaforesaid Patent No. 1,994,872.

As shown the upper and lower members of the floor tool are provided withoutwardly projecting shoulders I! and I8 respectively which are heldtogether by any suitable means as the as- 15 sembling screw I9, it beingunderstood that similar abutting members are provided on the other sideand are similarly held together. The member ill of the floor tool isshown as provided with a sloping wall which serves as the top of the 20nozzle proper. From the front and rear edges of this wall rise sidewalls 2| and 22 which are open at the top. A fiat spring 23 is adaptedto be mounted between the two walls 2i and 22 andis preferably of a.width to close the space be- 25 tween them and form with said walls andthe top wall 20 of the nozzle an end pocket 28 for receiving thesupporting shank 24 of an end roller to be further described but whichmay be generally designated by the reference numeral 25. 30

'Iherear end of the spring 23 may be held in place in any suitablemanner but as shown is provided with an opening through which passes theassembling screw IS. The upward movement of the spring 23 under theinfluence, of the roller 85 shank 24 is limited by a spanning rivet 28which connects the front and rear walls 2| and 221 The front end 21 ofthe spring is turned upwardly to form a finger grip by means of whichthe spring may be raised slightly to permit removal of the 40 rollershank. The spring 23 is under constant. tension serving to press thespring downwardly v upon the roller shank 24 thereby tending to lift thefloor tool nozzle from the floor, which tendency may be counteracted bythe operator exerting sufiicient'downward pressure upon the floor toolthrough the medium of the operating handle to overcome the tension ofthe spring in whole or in part.

In thehssembled position the inner end of the roller shank 24 preferablyabuts against the screw l9 and is provided adjacent its other end butspaced a sulilcient distance from the roller 25, with a stop or catch 29which may be in the form of a small rivet head, against which the endportion of the spring 23 fits thereby holding the shank in positionexcept when the finger portion 21 is' lifted to permit removal thereof.

Each end opening l5 of the nozzle is adapted to be partially or entirelyclosed by an end plate 30 carried by the roller shank 24 in a mannersimilar to what is described in my Patent No. 1,895,584 dated January21, 1933. The end plate is preferably composed of hard fiber, raw hide,Bakelite or other suitable material. As .shown in Fig. 7 a tab 3! isstruck out from the face of the plate leaving an opening 32 to permitpassage of the roller shank 24. When the parts areassembled the tab 3|abuts against a downturned portion 33 of the roller shank therebypressing, the end plate against the end of the nozzle and regulating andcontrolling the flow of air into the end of the nozzle. The top portion34 of the end plate will'then engage the upturned portion of the spring23 on the side opposite to the catch 29, a sufficient portion of thespring extending above the plate to be accessible when the roller shankis to be removed from the pocket.

The roller is shown as of general type disclosed in my Patent No.1,541,280 but according to the present invention includes a spindle 40having wheel retaining flanges 4i and 42 formed integral with the mainbody of the spindle and having a reduced portion 43 (Fig. 8) which isadapted to fit an opening 44 in the down-turned portion 33 of the rollershank 24. This reduced.

portion is subsequently upset to form a riveted connection with theshank as indicated in Fig. 1. According to the present invention the hubor bearing for this spindle is formed in two halves 45 and 46, beingdivided axially as indicated in Fig. 6. Each half is provided with oneor more internal pockets 41 adapted to contain soapy graphite or otheranti-squeak material. The bearing may be bored to fit the spindle 40 andcounter-bored to fit the flanges 4i and 42 before being split in two.The hub may be formed of wood impregnated with grease if desired asdisclosed in my Patent No. 1,541,280 or may be formed of Babbitt metal,graphite or other antifriction material. The spindle 40 for mounting theroller may be a machine product having both wheel retaining flanges 4iand 42 made integral 1 with it so that the bearings with their counterborings (to prevent induction of air and ravelings) can be placed andreplaced only by sepa rating the halves into which they are split.

A relatively thick rubber cap-shaped member 4! similar to what isdescribed in my Patent No. 1,541,280 may be fitted over the hub andserves to hold the two halves ,of the hub together and in additionserves as thetire of the roller. Owing to the resilience of the materialof which the tire is composed it may be expanded to fit over the hub andwhen assembled holds the parts firmly together. The assembled rollerwill rotate freely about the spindle substantially without friction andwithout squeaking and requires no further attention as to lubrication.

If desired a metal cup 49 such as disclosed in my Patent No. 1,541,280may be used in connection with the bearing as indicated in Figs. 8

and 9 but this cup may be omitted if desired as indicated in Fig. 1. aretaining lip 50 to hold it in place.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration but it will be understood that modifications and variationsmay be resorted to as will be apparent to those skilled in the art,without departing from the inventive thought involved.

. I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a fioor tool having end pockets each includingside walls and a downwardly tensioned leaf spring secured at its innerend to the cleaner body between said side walls, and serving as a coverfor its respective pocket, means located above the spring intermediateits ends for limiting its upward movement, roller shanks extending intosaid pockets between said side walls and beneath the springs, andcoacting means carried by said springs and shanks for releasablyretaining the shanks in place.

2. In a suction cleaner, a fioor tool having end pockets each includingside walls, and each having a downwardly tensioned leaf spring mountedbetween said side walls, and secured at its inner end to the body of thecleaner, means located above the spring intermediate its ends forlimiting its upward movement, roller shanks detachably connected in saidpockets and extending laterally therefrom, end rollerscarried by saidshanks, and releasable coacting means carried by the outer end of eachleaf spring and roller shank respectively for holding the shanks in thepocket.

3. A suction cleaner as set forth in claim 1, wherein each roller shankis provided with a retaining lug near the outer end of the pocket, saidlug being engaged by the outer end of the spring to normally hold theshank in position.

4. In a device of the character described; a roller shank, a rollerspindle carried thereby, a two part anti-friction hub fitting over thespindie, and a resilient rubber cap holding the two halves of the hubtogether and serving as a tire for the roller.

5. The combination of the spindle as set forth in claim 4 havingintegral wheel retaining flanges; with the two piece hub having acentral recess adapted to fit over the main body of the spindle andbetween the flanges, and counterborings adapted to fit over the wheelretaining flange.

DANIEL BENSON REPLOGLE.

The tire 48 preferably has

